Locker wardrobe



Jan.' 13, i959 J. `B O'CONNOR LOCKER WARDROBE 3 Sheets-Sheet` 1 Original Filed May 21, 1945 Jan. 13, 1959 J. B. ocoNNoR LocKERwARnRoBE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed May 21, 1945 oooo lk l ooovclaoooo oo@` United States Patent O LOCKER WARDROBE John B. OConnor, Aurora, Ill., assignor to Lyon Metal Products, Incorporated, Aurora, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Original application May 21, 1945, Serial No. 594,980, now Patent No. 2,655,424, dated October 13, 1953. Divided and this application May 3, 1951, Serial No. 224,427

1 Claim. (Cl. 312-257) This invention relates to lockers or wardrobes, or a combined locker and wardrobe, particularly for use in shops and factories.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a sheet metal locker structure comprising four angle iron uprights spaced in rectangular formation and carrying on their upper ends a rigidified assembly of horizontal brackets upon which are mounted a rectangular sheet metal locker, the parts being assembled and bolted together in rigid relation.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a skeletal box-like locker formed of bolted together sheet metal panels, rigidited by angle iron struts to which the panels are bolted together with horizontal bracket means bolted to the locker assembly and detachably mounted on rectangularly arranged angle iron uprights supported on a base.

Other objects relate to the details of construction of the various sheet metal parts and angle iron struts that rigidity the structure.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing details of construction of the foregoing structure.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from a perusal of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a front perspective view of the improved locker wardrobe, one of the hinged doors being shown in dotted lines as raised to open position;

Fig. 2 is a right side View of the locker wardrobe shown in Fig. l with certain parts of the frame broken away, to show a coat in position and a chain passing through the sleeve of the coat;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the base taken on line 3 3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4--4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a detail plan section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective View of one of the partition members.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the invention comprises a preferably sheet metal bottom 2 having depending llanges on all sides, the depending flange 4 being shown in Fig. l. To the ends of this bottom 2 are secured two lower corner brackets 6 and 8 of the construction shown in Fig. l, each of which comprises an outside vertical wall 10 having an upper edge as at 12 doubled upon itself for strength and ornamentation, and having a lower inwardly extending horizontal flange 14 which underlies the lower edge 16 of the basal ilanges, such as 4 (see Figs. 3 and 5). These two lower brackets are cut away in curvilinear fashion for ornamental purposes. The base 2 is bolted to these lower corner brackets by means of the bolts 20, as shown in Fig. 3. In addition, the base 2 is provided with a centrally disposed reinforcing element of sheet metal, generally in 2,868,605 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 the form of a pan 22 having upper longitudinally extending opposed llanges 24 and 26 which are welded to the underside of the base 2, as shown. The two ends of the lower portion 28 of the pan are provided with two downwardly extending flanges 30 which are spot welded as at 32 to the end basal ilanges 5 of the base. In addition there are four upright angle posts 34, the bottoms of which, as shown at 36, rest upon the base 2. The lower corner lbrackets are bolted to these corner posts as shown at 21 for rigidly holding the corner posts in upright position. The corner posts extend upwardly and terminate at 37, as shown in Fig. 4.

The locker unit is supported upon the four posts 34 and held in position thereon by means of two upper corner bracket members 86 and 88, shown in perspective. The locker unit itself comprises a rectangular box-like structure 40 having opposed vertical end walls 56 and 58, a top wall 42, and a base 44. Like the bottom portion of this locker wardrobe, the upper locker part thereof is formed preferably of sheet metal. As shown best in Fig. 4, it includes a sheet metal back panel 45 which has a lower flange 46. This back panel has its top edge vertically underlying a rear depending ilange 48 of the sheet metal top 42, the same being bolted together as at 52. The front edge of this sheet metal top is provided with a front vertically depending flange 54. Each of the two sheet metal ends 56 and 58 has an inturned flange 60, see Fig. 5, at the top and an inturned flange 62 along its rear side. The top horizontal tlanges 60 of the ends overlie the top wall 42 and the rear Vertical ilanges 62 of the ends overlie the ends of the back wall 45. The flanges 62 and back are secured together by bolts 63, see Fig. 6, and the flanges 60 of the ends are secured by Ibolts 65 at the corners which also secure the flange 46 of the top 42, see Fig. 5.

The front 50 is a rectangular frame structure preferably formed as a single piece having a series of spaced apart relatively large rectangular door openings therein, as shown in Fig. l. This front 50 has a rearwardly extending flange 64 along its top edge, see Fig. 4, another rearwardly extending ilange 66 along its bottom edge and similar flanges 76 at each end, see Fig. 6. Each of the spaced apart rectangular door openings 70 is also provided with a series of rearwardly extending flanges consisting of horizontal ilanges 72 at the top and bottom, see Fig. 4, and opposed spaced vertical flanges 74, see Fig. 6.

A series of bolts 90, see Fig. 4, located at spaced intervals along the entire length of the top llange 64 secure together this llange 64 and the top 42 and, as shown in Fig. 4, the depending inner flange 54 on top 42 extends adjacent the outer front wall 50 between the llange 64 and the flanges 72 on the top row of openings 70. The end flanges 76 overlie the side walls 56 and 58, see Fig. 6, and the front ends of each of the side walls 56 and 58 have inwardly extending portions 82 and terminate in forwardly extending portions 84. The portions 82 and 84 on the wall 56 thus extend in the space between the tlange 76 and the adjacent spaced ilanges 74 and those on wall 58 extend between the other tlange 68 and the adjacent flanges 74 thus maintaining the forward ends of walls 56 and 58 in their proper position. The leaf 92 of a hinge 80, see Fig. 4, is bolted as at 94 to the flange 72 at the top of each opening 70 and each opening 70 is provided with a door 98 which is hingedly connected to the leaf 92 by a hinge pin 96, Each door 98 has inwardly extending strengthening flanges 99 on both vertical edges and carries a key-operated lock 100 and has a lower lip 102 which overlies the front wall 50 below the door.

An intermediate horizontal shelf or partition 116 provides a iloor for all the row of lockers. This partition 3 116 has a depending flange or skirt 118 all around. At the front of the horizontal partition 116 a series of pockets 120 are formed, one for each door, to accommodate the projecting tongue 124 of the bolt on the lock 100 of the door 98 thereabove, the bolt extending through a slot or keeper in the flange 72 at the bottom of each opening 70. Along the front of each pocket 120 the flange 118 has a narrow portion 122 so that the lower edge of flange 118 is on the same level all around. Reference to Figs. 4 and 6 shows that the main part of the shelf 116 extends on a level with the flanges 74 below the top row of openings 70 and that a depression 86 is provided at the front of shelf 116 to accommodate the flanges 74 where the shelf 116 extends thereunder. The rear depending flange 118 of shelf 116 is bolted as at 130 to the rear panel 45. The shelf 116 may also be bolted at other places to rigid fixed portions of the construction, if desired. In the construction shown, however, the shelf 116 is supported at the front by depending flange 118 which extends adjacent the front wall 50 in position so that its lower edge may engage the flanges 72 at the top of the lower series of door openings 70.

The bottom 44 of the locker is substantially identical in structure with shelf 116 except as hereinafter noted. lt has a flange 134, see Figs. 4 and 5, similar to flange 118 and is secured by bolts 136 to the rear panel 45 and to other parts, if desired. Bottom 44 also has a series of pockets 126 similar to the pockets 120 for accommodating the projecting tongues 124 of the bolts on the locks 100 of the bottom row of doors. The ange 134 has a narrow portion 135 similar to the portion 122 and a shallow depression 137 which, like depression 86, is provided to receive the bottom flanges 72 of the lower row of door openings 70 and permit the main part of floor 44 to extend on a level with these flanges 72. Floor 44 is supported at the front by the depending flange 134 which extends adjacent the front wall 50 between the lower row of flanges 72 and the bottom flange 66.

To better support the box-like structure 40 an angle iron frame 140 is provided which extends on all four sides of the locker structure 40 under the floor 44 and inside its depending flange 134. The rear vertical arm 138 of the angle iron frame 140 is also secured by bolts 136 so that the flange 134 is clamped between the arm 138 and the rear wall 45. The front vertical arm 142 of the angle iron frame 140 extends adjacent the inner face of the front portion of flange 134 and is relieved as at 144 at suitable intervals to receive the dished portions of floor 44 where the pockets 126 are formed.

Within the box-like structure 40 the individual lockers in each row are separated by a series of vertical partitions 152 in the top row and 154 in the bottom row. The partitions 152 and 154 are of identical structure. Each partition has two vertical rows of slits 155, 156, 157 and 158 formed therein at the places indicated in Fig. 4. The material of the partitions along each row of slits is then bent laterally of the partition surfaces into a semicircular shape with alternate portions extending on opposite sides of the partition. Thus, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, the material between slits 157 and 158 is bent out on one side of partition 152 to provide a semi-circular formation 160 and the material between slit 158 and the bottom of partition 152 and between slits 156 and 157 is bent out on the opposite side of partition 152 to provide the semi-circular formations 162 and 164, respectively, and this is continued throughout the full length of each row of slits in each of the partitions 152 and 154. The semi-circular formations 160, 162, 164, etc. are designed to receive a rod 166. The rods 166 are provided with broad heads 168 and extend down through perforations in the top 42 then through the semi-circular formations in partition 152, then through an opening in shelf 116 through the semi-circular formations in a lower partition 154 and, finally, through openings in the bottom 44 where they are threaded as at 170 to receive the nuts 172 for holding the partitions in position. In addition the partitions 152 and 154 themselves and their bolt receiving portions 160, 162 and 164, help to rigidify the top 42, the shelf 116 and the bottom 44.

Each of the partitions 152 and 154 has a flange 159, see Fig. 6, on its rear end and a flange 161 on its forward end. Each of these flanges 159 and 161 extends from the partition toward the end wall 58. The partitions 152 and 154 terminate short of the front wall 50 so that the flange 161 is spaced therefrom but extends between adjacent flanges 78 and 76. A vertically extending channel shaped member 163 is welded to the flange 161, as at 165, with the arms of the channel extending toward the front wall 50 and aids in maintaining the forward ends of partitions 152 and 154 in their proper position.

As before stated, the entire pigeonhole-like top locker 40 is mounted upon the corner posts 34 by means of the upper corner brackets 86 and 88. To this end each one of these upper side brackets is a reversely disposed duplicate of the bottom brackets 6 and 8 and comprises a vertical side wall portion 174, an upper horizontal flange 176 extending in around the three sides of the top and arcuate side faces 180, see Fig. 7. The lower edge of the side wall 174 is doubled upon itself as at 178 along its lower edge for strength and ornamentation. The horizontal flanges 176 on the two corner brackets 86 and 88 provide horizontal surfaces upon which the box-like structure 40 sits. At the rear above the arcuate faces 180 of the brackets 86 and 88, the flanges 176 are secured by bolts 146 to thc angle iron frame and to the flange 46 extending in from the rear wall 45. Bolts 148 secure flanges 176 to the flange 66 and to the angle iron frame 140 above the arcuate faces 180 of brackets 86 and 88 at the front. Lastly, a series of bolts fasten angle iron frame 140 and inturned flanges 149 on the lower edges of ends 56 and 58 to flanges 176. The housing 40 is thus well secured to the corner brackets 86 and 88 but is at the same time removable.

Brackets 86 and 88 are in turn rigidly mounted on the posts 34 as best seen in Figs. 4, 5 and 7. This mounting includes four sheet substantially L-shaped metal plates 183 one of which, shown in Fig. 7, is welded, as at 186 and 188, to the inner faces of the vertical end walls 174 which are aligned with and are below the end walls 56 of the cabinets and to the arcuate wall of each of the upper corner brackets 86 and 88 at each of the four corners of the structure. Each of these inner pocket forming plates 183 extends slightly less than the full height of corner brackets 86 and 88 and is shaped as shown in Fig. 7 to form an L-shaped vertical pocket slightly larger than the cross section of the vertical corner posts 34 and in which the tops of the corner posts are received firmly to mount the upper corner brackets 86 and 88 and end sheets 174 integral therewith on the corner posts 34. The posts 34 do not extend up through the full height of pockets 190, however, to engage flanges 176. Instead, at each corner of the structure a short distance above the vertical mid-point of brackets 86 and 88, two portions of the material of brackets 86 and 88 are cut at 181 and 182, respectively, from walls 174 and 180 and bent down to horizontal position to form tangs 184 and 185 which extend through suitably located openings in plates 183, which openings are just large enough to receive these tangs. The load of structure 40 is thus transmitted to the top 37 of posts 34 through the tangs 183 and 185 which are engaged by the posts 34 when the latter are inserted in pockets 190. The wardrobe proper, beneath the locker portion 40, provides a relatively large space in which a series of garments, such as coats, may be hung. To this end the bottom wall 44 of the box-like structure 40 has bolted thereto, as at 192, a bracket 194, see Fig. 4, the upper flange 196 of which has ten portions struck out, bent downwardly and perforated to form a series of ten spaced clips or chain holders 198. These chain holders 198 are uniformly spaced so that there are two under each pair of vertically aligned lockers. Each chain holder 198 has one end of one of a corresponding series of ten chains or other llexible elongated members 200 permanently attached thereto. In addition, the vertical wall 195 of the bracket 194 is provided with a corresponding series of ten spaced holes 202 through which the chains 200 pass. This vertical wall 195 of the bracket 194 also carries a forwardly extending horizontal flange 204 which in turn is provided with an upstanding ilange 206. Opposite each chain holder 198 and associated opening 202 the flanges 204 and 206 are cut to form ten slots 208. These slots 208 are adapted to receive the vertical shank 210 of a garment hanger 212 of which there are also ten. The upper portion of the shank of the garment hanger is provided with an integral loop 214, Fig. l, sufficiently large to permit the chain to pass therethrough. The shank 210 also has welded thereto a folded wire cross bar, not shown, the ends of which extend outwardly in opposed relation to lie on ange 204 on the opposite sides of the slot 208. These bars lie behind the vertical anges 206 and the upright loop 214 projects upwardly preferably above the edge of the ange 206, as shown in Fig. 4 and claimed in my prior application, Serial No. 594,980, now Patent No. 2,655,424, granted October 13, 1953, of which this present application is a division. ln this manner the cross bars serve to support the garment hangers and with the vertical Shanks 210 prevent lateral shifting of the garment hangers. In short, due to the slotted rack and the manner in which the garment hangers are suspended therein, the garment hangers are maintained in spaced horizontal position longitudinally of the rack and cannot be pushed all to one side in a bunch. In addition, the garment hangers 212 may be easily removed by lifting them out of their slots, such as 208. However, since the chain 200 extends down from the holder 198 through the opening 202 and then through the loop 214 of hanger 212, this hanger is secured on the chain and so cannot be carried away. Usually chain 200 also passes through slot S. The end of each chain 200 opposite to that secured to the holder 198 is provided with a locking mechanism comprising a spool 220 riveted as at 222 to the end of the chain 200. The spool is provided with a centrally disposed, relatively annular neck 224, the diameter of which is less than that of the adjoining spool portions 226. In addition each door 98 is provided with an open ended slot 228 which iS of sufficient width to receive the smaller diameter portion 224 of the spool-like lock, but which will prevent the passage of the larger heads 226 therethrough. When the door is in raised position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and this small diameter portion 224 of the spool is slid into a slot 228 and the door closed and locked, the end of the chain will be held locked to this particular door. The diameter of this spool 220 is larger than the loop 214 in the coat hanger, so that the coat hanger cannot be threaded off the free end of the chain.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that when a coat 230 is placed upon a coat hanger 212 and the associated chain 200 is threaded through the sleeve 232 of the coat, and the chain pin 220 is then locked in the slot 228 of the door in the manner hereinbefore described the coat cannot be removed until this door is opened. Thus, each person who controls the key of any particular locker will lock his coat upon the coat hanger and at the same time deposit what articles he desires in the particular locker to be locked by the door which also locks the free end of the chain thereto.

This invention is a division of applicants prior application entitled Locker Wardrobe, Serial No. 594,980, led May 21, 1945, and now issued into Patent No. 2,655,424, dated October 13, 1953.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the specific details of construction disclosed herein but is capable of other modications and changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a combined locker wardrobe the combination cornprising a substantially rectangular ibase, a post mounted on and extending upwardly from each of the corners of said base, each post being substantially L-shaped in cross section, a frame supported by said posts on the upper ends thereof in spaced-relation with said base, anges formed on each corner of said `frame and extending downwardly therefrom and surrounding the outwardly facing sides of said posts, substantially L-shaped retaining members attached to the inner sides of said flange at said corners and covering the inwardly facing sides of the upper portions of said posts, said retaining members extending upwardly beyond the ends of said posts, and a tongue struck from said ilanges at each corner of said frame, said tongue extending inwardly toward the associated retaining member to overlie the top of the associated corner post to limit the relative downward movement of the frame with respect to the :corner posts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 614,722 Isaacs Nov. 22, 1898 881,785 Flora Mar. 10, 1908 1,013,231 Stearns Jan. 2, 1912 1,126,544 Martin Jan. 26, 1915 1,232,961 Ohnstrand July l0, 1917 1,336,973 Levene Apr. 13, 1920 1,735,879 Reynolds Nov. 19, 1929 1,978,650 Shannon Oct. 30, 1934 2,019,203 Thompson Oct. 29, 1935 2,172,266 Whitaker Sept. 5, 1939 2,202,427 Polen May 28, 1940 2,206,103 Michael July 2, 1940 2,309,323 Lear Ian. 26, 1943 2,438,257 Stevenson et al Mar. 23, 1948 2,438,783 Kraft Mar. 30, 1948 

